April Awards

American League MVP: Robinson Cano

Hitting .320 with 8 home runs and 21 RBIs for the 16-9 Yankees, Robinson Cano should be the front runner for American League MVP.  The National League seems to dominate the early season statistics on an annual basis and 2011 is no different.  There are no AL standouts to this point but Cano is currently the only player in the top 10 in all average, home runs, and rbis (T8, T2, T4).  The superior statistics, coupled with the second-best record in the AL puts Cano is prime position going forward.

Candidates: Jose Bautista, Miguel Cabrera, Michael Young, Alex Gordon

American League Cy Young: Jered Weaver

No.  Brainer.  Say hello to this year's Ubaldo Jimenez.  Weaver has been absolutely dominant to start the season.  Currently on pace for the Triple Crown and leading his Angels to division-leading status, this one needs no debate.

Candidates: Dan Haren, Michael Pineda, Trevor Cahill, Justin Masterson, James Shields

American League Manager of the Month: Manny Acta

The Cleveland Indians are a MLB-leading 19-8.  Other than Acta, try to give me another good reason why.

Candidates: Terry Francona (just kidding)

National League MVP: Lance Berkman

If you watched Berkman on the 2010 Astros or Yankees, you would think that him winning the MVP this year would be insane.  The bottom-line is that The Big Puma has flat-out raked all year long.  St. Louis lost Adam Wainwright in Spring Training and Albert Pujols has not looked like Albert Pujols to this point and yet the Cardinals still lead the NL Central.  Why, you ask?  Look no further than Berkman's monstrous 1.209 OPS.  While this production most likely will not last all season, any true baseball fan has to love seeing Lance put up numbers like it's 2006 again.

Candidates: Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Matt Kemp

National League Cy Young: Josh Johnson

Is there a more under-appreciated player in all of baseball than Josh Johnson?  If there is, please let me know.  Through 7 big-league seasons, the 27 year-old has posted a career ERA under 3.00 while winning nearly 70% of his games for a perennially poor Florida team.  This year has been no exception.  While his 3-0 record with 49 strikeouts in 6 starts is impressive on its own, sporting a 0.88 ERA and 0.71 WHIP through 41.0 innings pitched is down-right filthy.  Florida is currently half a game out of first place in the NL East (they are sporting the league's third best record), and Josh Johnson's dominance has more to do with the success as anything.

Candidates: Roy Halladay, Kyle Lohse, Shawn Marcum, Jorge De La Rosa

National League Manager of the Month: Edwin Rodriguez

The National League Manager of the Month Award is much more difficult to hand out than its American League counterpart.  Unlike the Padres last season, there is no major surprise to this point.  Out of 16 total NL teams, only 4 are currently above .500 and, given that stat prior to the season, not many people would have thought that the Marlins would be one of those 4 teams.  Edwin Rodriguez took over for Fredi Gonzalez midway through the 2010 season and since then has done a great job at keeping that club motivated.  Atlanta should right the ship and it is unlikely that only 4 National League teams finish the season above .500 but as of now Rodriguez has done the best managerial job.

Candidates: Tony LaRussa, Jim Tracy